By Gary L. Bauer
Campaign for Working Families
Barack Obama spoke today in the major oil town of Cushing, Oklahoma, and made a big deal about his support for the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline. His speech made it clear just how stupid he thinks we are.
To begin with, the southern portion of the pipeline does not require presidential approval. Only the northern part, which crosses an international border, requires special approval. That just happens to be the part of the pipeline that would actually bring in more oil from Canada, and that is the part of the pipeline that Obama and his radical environmental allies are blocking. So what Obama did today won't result in one more drop of oil coming into the country.
Obama also tried to take credit today for recent increases in oil production, claiming that he has opened up more land to drilling and exploration. He even said, "We are drilling all over the place." Don't be fooled. There is a big difference between Obama's rhetoric and reality.
When Barack Obama took office, the national average for a gallon of gasoline was $1.84. It's now $3.88 a gallon and you're pain at the pump is translating into Obama's pain in the polls. Suddenly he wants to "drill all over the place." Give it a few more weeks, and even Obama might be saying, "Drill, baby, drill!"
This is perhaps the most anti-energy administration we have ever had. And as Obama runs around the country making misleading and hypocritical speeches like the one in Cushing, it is important to remind folks about his record.
- The first thing Obama's Interior Secretary did when he took office was to cancel scores of drilling leases.
- The number of operational rigs in the Gulf of Mexico was cut in half after the 2010 BP spill. Why? Because of an Obama drilling ban that held up scores of permits.
- So what about Obama's claim that oil production is up? It's not -- not on land controlled by the federal government. A March 14th report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration noted, "Total sales of all fossil fuels produced on Federal and Indian lands … rose by about 1 percent between fiscal year 2009 and FY 2010 and dropped by about 6 percent between FY 2010 and FY 2011." [Emphasis added.]
- Obama's Energy Secretary once advocated $8.00-a-gallon gasoline.
- A Harvard study estimated that Obama's cap and trade scheme could have resulted in $7.00-a-gallon gasoline.
- In his speech today, Obama said, "We don't want to be vulnerable to something that's happening on the other side of the world." No we don't. But it was Barack Obama who blocked the Keystone XL pipeline that would bring in more oil from friendly Canada.
- According to Gallup, 57% of Americans want the Keystone XL pipeline built. Just 29% oppose it. Obama sided with the 29%.
- He wants to bankrupt the coal industry, which he admits will cause electricity rates to "necessarily skyrocket."
It's clear Obama thinks the American people are stupid and won't connect the dots. He's wrong. He also assumes the media are in the tank for him, so they won't point out the hypocrisy of this event or his extreme positions. He's right about that.
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